⚜️ What It Means to Hold the Honor of Longford (Annaly)

An “Honor” (from Latin honor or honourum) was one of the highest forms of feudal landholding in the medieval system, above an ordinary manor and often encompassing multiple manors, lordships, and baronies under one chief lord.
It was effectively a regional principality or territorial jurisdiction recognized by the Crown.

To “hold the Honor of Longford or Annaly” therefore means:

• You hold the caput baroniae (head manor or seat) and

• The heritable dignity, precedence, and jurisdictional rights associated with the former feudal principality of that region (in this case, Annaly, also called Anghaile, the historic kingdom in County Longford, Ireland).

In Ireland, the Honor of Longford/Annaly was historically vested in the Nugent family, Barons Delvin and Earls of Westmeath, who inherited the region’s palatine, captainship, untold numbers of lordships, moieties, grants from king and bishops, and baronial prerogatives after the Tudor grants of the 16th century.

🏰 What “an Honor” Encompassed

A feudal “Honor” could include:

• Dozens of subordinate manors and vills.

• A private court baron or even court leet or palatine court.

• Rights of advowson, market, fair, toll, custom, and jurisdiction over tenants.

• A title of dignity, equivalent to a barony or minor principality.

In England and Ireland, famous examples include the Honor of Richmond, Honor of Lancaster, and Honor of Wallingford — all functioning as semi-autonomous lordships.

⚖️ Who Can Claim to Hold an Honor Today?

Today, very few individuals or families still claim ownership of an Honor or Honour because most were absorbed by the Crown after the Tenures Abolition Act (1660) or the Irish Land Acts of the 19th century.
However, private ownership of the “dignity” or incorporeal seignory of an Honour or Honor can still exist — similar to surviving manorial or feudal titles — if it was legally conveyed, inherited, or transferred in fee simple before such acts.

Some well-documented Honors are still held as feudal dignities or incorporeal hereditaments today, traded or inherited like manorial lordships.

Thus, if someone holds “The Honor of Longford or Annaly” by lawful conveyance, it represents a feudal dignity and territorial lordship of honor status, historically princely in character.

👑 What Is the Title for the Holder of an Honor?

The holder is formally styled:

• “Lord of the Honor of [Name]”, or

• “Baron of the Honor of [Name]”, and in cases of large scope or ancient jurisdiction, occasionally as

• “Prince of [Name]” (in cases where the Honor descended from a Gaelic principality or palatine liberty).

For instance:

Dr./Jur. George Mentz, Seigneur of Fief Blondel, Lord of the Honor and Principality of Annaly (Longford).

Historically, the title could be synonymous with:

• Baron of the Honor of Longford

• Count Palatine of Annaly–Teffia

• Princeps Annaliae (in medieval Latin usage)

🕊️ In Summary

Additional notes & comments

• The term “Slewght William” (or “Slewght Willam”, “Slaught William”) refers to a Gaelic territorial-clan area in Annaly, sometimes equated to “Clan Liam/Clan William” (Irish Clann Liamh). Baron Longford+1

• The Captainship & Custody grant of 22 Nov 1565 explicitly mentions: “… licence to have the Lease in reversion for 21 years of the abbey of All Saints … and the custody or captainship of Sleught-William in the Analy …” Baron Longford

• The moiety of Ardagh (half share) indicates a division of rights in the barony of Ardagh (within County Longford) between parties; the grant to Delvin covers that half-share. Baron Annaly

• The 1620/1635 Inchmore grants reflect ecclesiastical lands being converted into secular holdings via Crown and Papal authority. Baron Annaly

• These grants show the progressive accrual of rights—territorial lordship, monastic holdings, clan-custody/captainship, market/fair rights, island and moiety shares—by the Nugent family in Annaly.

🏰 CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF CROWN GRANTS & CAPTAINCIES

To the Nugents (Barons Delvin & Earls of Westmeath)

⚔️ 1172 — Henry II

• Grant: Liberty and County Palatine of Meath to Hugh de Lacy, Lord Palatine of Meath.

• Relevance: The Nugents later held part of western Meath under De Lacy and were styled hereditary Barons of Delvin.

• Source: Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland; Patent Roll 18 Henry II.

🕰️ 1377–1383 — Gaelic Annaly (Pre-Norman Context)

• Context: The Castle of Lios-ard-abhla (Lisardowlan) erected by John O’Farrell, Lord of Annaly (1377).
  Later passed under Nugent control.

• Source: Farrell, History of County Longford, p. 59–60

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👑 1541 — Henry VIII

• Grantee: Sir Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin.

• Grant: The Priory and Manors of Fore and Belgard, County Westmeath.
  Included ecclesiastical lands, courts baron, and knight’s service.

• Source: Patent Roll 32 Henry VIII (1541) – Calendar of Patent Rolls, Ireland, vol. I, p. 78

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🕯️ 1541 — Thomas Nugent (possible relative)

• Grant: Abbeyshrule Monastery leased to Thomas Nugent of Dublin.

  • Marks early Nugent acquisition in Longford region.

• Source: Father Paul Walsh, Longford Monastic History (noted in your dossier).

⛪ 1552 — Philip & Mary

• Grantee: Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin.

• Grant: AbbeyLara (Cistercian Abbey) and Dominican Friary of Longford with lands and tithes.

  • “In capite forever.”

• Source: History of County Longford p. 60; Patent Rolls, Philip & Mary

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📜 1556–1557 — Philip & Mary

• Grantee: Sir Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin.

• Grant: Abbey of Inchmore (Inishmore) and Priory & Manor of Fore (Fower) — reaffirmation and new grant for secure tenure.

  • Reissued due to possible omissions in prior letters patent.

• Source: Patent Roll Philip & Mary, Vol. I No. LX.21

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🕊️ 1557 — Philip & Mary

• Grantee: Mary, Lady Delvin (widow) and Sir Richard Nugent, her son.

• Grant: Vast holdings across Longford & Westmeath:

  • Priory of Cannons of the Holy Island, Friary of Fower, Castles of Monilagan, Newton, and Lisnevoa.

  • Rectories and tithes of Rathline, Cashell, and other lands.

  • Held “in fee farm” from the Castle of Dublin.

• Source: Calendar of Patent Rolls, Ireland, James I (abstracting Philip & Mary confirmation)

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⚔️ c. 1583–1585 — Elizabeth I

• Grantee: Sir Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin.

• Grant: Captainship and Custody of Annaly (Anghaile), Slewght William, and the Ardagh Moiety.

  • Authority over native septs and military command of the region.

  • Annual rent £20 sterling to the Crown.

• Source: Patent Roll 25 Elizabeth I (Morrin II p. 210 ff.) — “Grant of the Captainship and Custody of Annalie…”

  • Confirmed in subsequent commissions under James I.

📜 1586 — Elizabeth I

• Administrative Change: County Longford shired from Northern Westmeath.

  • The Captaincy and Nugent control continued under the new county structure.

• Source: The Counties of Meath and Westmeath Act (34 Henry VIII) and Queen Elizabeth’s Order of 1586.

🕊️ 1605 — James I

• Grantee: Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin.

• Grant: License to hold a weekly market (Thursday) and a fair (August 1) in Longford County.

• Source: Patent Roll 3 James I (1605)

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⚖️ 1606 — James I

• Grantee: William Nugent (son of Richard).

• Grant: Restitution of all castles, lands, and hereditaments forfeited by attainder; remission of mesne profits.

• Source: Letters Patent – Westminster, 31 Oct 1606 (4 James I)

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🏰 1609 — James I

• Grantee: Richard Nugent and Lady Delvin.

• Grant: Castle Monilagan, Abbey Lahra, Friary of Fower, Priory of Holy Island, Castle Newton, etc.

  • Included attainted O’Farrell lands and religious properties.

  • Held in common soccage as of the Castle of Dublin.

• Source: Calendar of Patent Rolls James I (Ireland) Vol. I

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🕊️ 1611 — James I

• Grant: Dungannon Franciscan Friary to Richard Nugent.

• Source: Dossier reference p. 54

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⛪ 1612 — James I

• Grant: Priory and Manor of Foure (Fore).

  • Held in capite for knight’s service.

• Source: Dossier p. 22

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🏞️ 1620 — James I

• Grantee: Thomas Nugent, 4th Earl of Westmeath.

• Grant: Plantation of Longford – Manor of Correboymore and Castle Lissenoannagh.

  • 1,164 acres pasture + 554 acres bog and wood.

  • Created a manorial jurisdiction with court leet, court baron, and free warren.

  • Held in capite by military service.

• Source: Commission for Plantation of Longford (1620)

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⛪ 1635 — Urban VIII (Papal Confirmation)

• Beneficiary: Earl of Westmeath (Nugent).

• Grant: Confirmation of ownership and rights to Inchmore Priory and related ecclesiastical holdings.

• Source: Dossier p. 45

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📜 SUMMARY TIMELINE

⚖️ Special Note on the Captainship (Elizabeth I Patent, c. 1583–5)

• Title: Captainship and Custody of Annaly, Slewght William, and Ardagh Moiety.

• Holder: Sir Richard Nugent, Lord Delvin.

• Nature: Military, Governorship, Chief Status, and administrative command; de facto princely jurisdiction over Annaly before shiring of Longford.

• Later absorbed into the Feudal Seignory and Honour of Longford–Annaly, forming part of the modern title succession to the Earls of Westmeath and their successors in the 1996 conveyance registered in Dublin by Seigneur of Fief Blondel et L'Eperons, George Sherwood Mentz, Esq.

Summary of the Ancestral Lineage of George Mentz

Commissioner George Sherwood Mentz, JD MBA CWM, Seigneur of Fief Blondel and Datuk Seri, descends from an illustrious tapestry of European royal and noble lineages. His ancestry spans the British Isles and continental Europe, linking him to a remarkable array of monarchs, nobles, and Gaelic chieftains. His heritage includes clans and families such as the Maitlands, Drummonds, Kerrs, Flemings, Montgomerys, Sinclairs, Campbells, MacDougalls, and McConnell, Lords of the Isles.

Among his most notable sovereign ancestors are:

• Somerled, the Progenitor King of the Isles

• The McConnell / MacDonald Lords of the Isles

• Robert II Stewart, 1st Stuart King of Scotland

• James I, II, and IV of Scotland and Ireland

• Joan Beaufort, Queen of Scotland

• Walter FitzAlan, 3rd High Steward of Scotland

• Sir Archibald “The Tyneman” Douglas, Regent of Scotland

• Robert the Bruce, King of Scots

European royal descent includes ties to:

• King Christian of Denmark and Norway

• The von Guelders, von Habsburg, von Hohenzollern, and von Brandenburg dynasties

• The Five Holy Roman Emperors via the Counts of Orsini

• Kings of France, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Austria, and Germany

• Descent from the Julio-Claudian Roman emperors

He is also connected to prominent noble titles including:

• Earls of Roxburghe, Northumberland, Perth, Atholl, Carrick, Wigton, Buchan, and Argyll

• Dukes of Normandy, Norfolk, Albany

• Barons of Woodstock, Lethington, and Thirlestane

Thus, when the Seigneur of Fief Blondel, acquired the rights and honors of Annaly and Longford in fee simple, he inherited a composite principality of multiple ancient thrones—a realm whose seats (Granard, Abbey Lara, Liserdawle, and Longford) trace their authority to over a millennium of continuous rulership. The Seigneur of Blondel is Scotish, English, German, French, Italian, Egyptian, Sicilian, Anatolian, Dravidian, and Irish with DNA fromCounty Dublin, County Mayo, County Galway, County Kerry, County Donegal, County Cork and County Clare.

Commissioner Mentz’s ancestral roots affirm his dedication to service. As a humble and direct descendant of some of the most influential rulers in European history, his ceremonial revival of environmental service and chieftainship particularly honors the enduring cultural and sovereign legacy of the Mac Dhomhnaill–McConnell line, Lords of the Isles. From spiritual to temporal, Mentz is also a dedicated Lord Chancellor of the Anglican Church of Africa (Orthodox) which is  diplomatic and international legal position in service to the Patriarch.

Surviving and Documented Examples of Honours (Modern and Historical)

The Honour and Principality of Annaly–Teffia stands in the same nobiliary class as the historic princely houses of Austria, Italy, and France whose territorial sovereignties were absorbed into larger states but whose dynastic, ceremonial, and juridical dignities survived. Comparable in structure to the Houses of Habsburg-Lorraine, Esterházy, Liechtenstein, Gonzaga, Este, Malaspina, Colonna, Orsini, Bourbon-Parma, Bourbon-Two Sicilies, and Orléans, Annaly likewise represents an ancient territorial authority transformed—but not extinguished—by constitutional change. Crucially, the present Lord of the Honour of Annaly–Teffia holds rights that are formally registered in Dublin, recognizing the continued legal existence of the Honour as an incorporeal hereditament tied to the historic jurisdiction and territory—jur terre—of Teffia/Annaly. This continuity places Annaly firmly within the same legal framework as Europe’s mediatized princely entities, whose ancestral territorial rights, courtly prerogatives, and house honors endured even after the loss of sovereign power.

What the Honour of Annaly–Longford Really Represents

The Honour of Annaly is one of the very few surviving Irish feudal honours that sits at the intersection of:

• Gaelic royal sovereignty (O’Farrell, O’Quinn, O’Connor, and other princes of Muintir Angaile and Teffia)

• Hiberno-Norman palatine jurisdiction (De Lacy → Nugent/Baron Delvin)

• Post-Tudor legal succession via Crown grants, confirmations, and eventual modern fee-simple conveyance.

Because Annaly/Longford sits on the ancient territories of Teffia and Muintir Angaile, the Honour preserves three strata of legitimacy at once:

1. Gaelic dynastic legitimacy (Flaith, Ard-Tiarna, Prince of Annaly/Teffia)

2. Anglo-Norman feudal jurisdiction and palatine powers

3. Modern incorporeal hereditament status recognized by the Irish Registry of Deeds (in your case, transferred in fee simple by the Earl of Westmeath).

This gives the Honour of Annaly a level of historical density and multi-layered legitimacy that almost no other private feudal dignity in Ireland possesses.

1. Gaelic-Irish Sovereignty In Annaly/Longford

Before the Norman invasion, Annaly (Anghaile) and Teffia were ruled by:

• The O’Farrell Princes of Annaly (Uí Fhearghail)

• The O’Quinn Lords of Rathcline

• The O’Catharnaigh (O’Kearneys)

• The O’Connor Kings of Meath and Connacht (overkings who held suzerainty over Teffia)

These were not mere “chiefs” as Victorian English writers claimed — they were Flaith (princes), Ard-Tiarna (high lords), and in many sources Rí (kings) of their territories.

Teffia and Annaly formed a region that medieval annals repeatedly describe as:

“Greater than a petty kingdom”

The ruling houses were sovereign under Brehon law, with elections by tanistry, and their titles were non-feudal princely dignities.

Thus, the Gaelic inheritance embedded in the modern Honour of Annaly includes:

• Prince of Annaly (Flaith Anghaile)

• Prince of Teffia (Flaith Teabhtha)

• Lord/High-Lord (Tiarna, Ard-Tiarna) of the Gaelic territories

• Chief of the Name rights linked to O’Farrell and subordinate clans

• Jurisdictional rights historically exercised through brehon courts, tribute, and clientship.

Though today these Gaelic dignities are “incorporeal hereditaments,” they remain culturally and historically valid, and they were never extinguished under international law despite English suppression.

2. Anglo-Norman Acquisition → Feudal Palatine Authority

When Henry II and Strongbow reorganized Ireland after 1171–1175, the Lordship of Meath was granted as a palatine county to:

Hugh de Lacy (1172)

with near-regal authority, including:

• power to hold royal courts

• power to appoint sheriffs

• local immunity from royal writs

• rights over forfeiture, escheat, and military tenures

• rights to build castles and boroughs

The western part of Meath—Teffia and Annaly—eventually passed by marriage and descent to the Nugent family, later Barons Delvin and eventually Earls of Westmeath.

Thus, the Nugents became sub-pallatine rulers over the territory.

By the 1500s the English Crown repeatedly confirmed Nugent jurisdiction, calling them:

• Captains and Lords of Annaly

• Chief Lords of Clan Liam/William

• Barons Palatine under the Meath palatinate

Therefore, the Honour of Annaly carries with it the memory — and, in some documents, the explicit legal identity — of:

A palatine jurisdiction over western Meath/Annaly once held by the De Lacy → Nugent line.

This is exactly why later legal conveyances (including those culminating in your modern title) specify:

• Honour

• Barony

• Baron Palatine

• Seignory

• All rights, privileges, profits, and perquisites

Such language is far stronger than typical manorial title sales in England or Scotland; it derives from actual medieval palatine powers, meaning Annaly is more akin to:

A Continental feudal principality than an English manor.

3. Titles the Earls of Westmeath Inherited as Successors to Annaly

The Earls of Westmeath (formerly Barons Delvin) succeeded to both Gaelic and Anglo-Norman dignities in the region — uniquely blending the two traditions.

A. Gaelic Titles Inherited by Supremacy

The Nugents inherited overlordship over the Gaelic princes after:

• Surrender and re-grant policies under Henry VIII

• Nugent alliances and military influence

• Legal recognitions of Nugent “chiefship” over Annaly territories

Thus, the Nugents became:

• Lords of Annaly

• Captains of Annaly (parallel to Gaelic “Chiefs of the Nation”)

• Holders of Gaelic princely jurisdiction over subordinate septs

These were recognized in Tudor and Stuart patents.

B. Anglo-Norman Feudal Titles

As successors to the De Lacy palatinate, the Nugents held:

• Baron Palatine of Meath (Western Division)

• Lord of the Honour of Annaly (Longford)

• Feudal Baron of Delvin

• Lord of the Liberty and Seignory of Annaly

These were real, jurisdictional powers, including:

• Courts

• Rents and incidents

• Escheat rights

• Corporate liberties

• Military obligations

• Residual profits and perquisites

The survival of these rights into modern conveyance is extremely rare.

C. Dignity-Based Titles (Derived from Sovereignty, Not Territory)

Because Teffia and Annaly were Gaelic “kingdoms” (rí túatha and mór-túath structures), the successor to the Honour may correctly reference:

• Prince of Annaly

• Prince of Teffia

• Ard-Tiarna of Annaly

• Lord of the Honour of Annaly and Longford

• Lord Palatine of Annaly (historical/palatinate context)

• Chief Lord of Clan William (a title already explicitly granted to Baron Delvin)

These are dignities, not peerage titles — but they are historically grounded and recognized as incorporeal hereditaments, just as Scottish feudal baronies and Guernsey fiefs are.

4. Why Annaly Is Unique in Ireland

Because:

• The Gaelic royal lines were displaced but never extinguished.

• The De Lacy–Nugent line held actual palatine powers in the region.

• The Earls of Westmeath retained and conveyed those rights in fee simple.

• The modern Registry of Deeds filings protect the Honour as private property in perpetuity.

The Honour of Annaly is:

The only feudal honour in Ireland that truly combines Gaelic sovereignty, Anglo-Norman palatine authority, and legally surviving hereditary ownership.

It is far more substantial than:

• simple manorial titles

• post-1700 English “baronies by writ”

• courtesy titles

• invented clan chiefships

Its nearest analogues are:

• The Great Fiefs of Europe like Monaco

• Small continental principalities (Sayn-Wittgenstein, Arenberg, Paternò Castello, etc.)

• Mediatized houses with residual dignities

This puts Annaly in a class of its own.

5. What the Earl of Westmeath Was Successor To

Summarizing all of the above, the Earls of Westmeath (Barons Delvin) held:

Gaelic Titles (by conquest, inheritance, recognition)

• Prince-level sovereignty over Anghaile/Annaly

• Ard-Tiarna rights over Teffia territories

• Chief Lord of Clan William (Clan Liam)

• Overlordship of O’Farrell, O’Quinn, and several minor chiefs

Norman Feudal Titles

• Baron Palatine (Western Meath)

• Lord of the Honour and Liberty of Annaly

• Feudal Baron of Delvin

• Holdership of courts, perquisites, incidents, chief rents, and profits

Modern Legal Identity (post-conveyance)

• Fee simple owner of the Honour of Annaly–Longford

• Holder of all rights, privileges, prerogatives, and perquisites thereof

• Successor to both Gaelic and Tudor legal frameworks

This is exactly the dignity conveyed in the 1996 → 2018 transfers.

Conclusion: What the Honour of Annaly Really Means Today

Annaly-Longford is not simply a title. It is the surviving remnant of a dual sovereignty — Gaelic and Anglo-Norman — preserved uniquely through legal conveyance into the modern era.

It represents:

• A princely dignity under Gaelic law

• A feudal honour with palatine origin under Anglo-Norman law

• A registrable, inheritable property right under Irish modern law

In other words:

The modern holder stands as the lawful successor to the princely, palatine, and feudal dignities once exercised over Teffia and Annaly — the ancient Gaelic kingdom and the western palatine liberty of Meath.

The great feudal houses of Europe—whether the princely dynasties of the Holy Roman Empire such as the Habsburgs, Wittelsbachs, Arenbergs, and Liechtensteins, or the grand feudatories of France like the Bourbons, Dukes of Brittany, Burgundy, Aquitaine, and Normandy, or the Italian magnates such as the Savoy, Este, Medici, Orsini, Gonzaga, and Paternò Castello—all possessed a defining feature: they were sovereign or semi-sovereign lords whose authority combined (1) territorial jurisdiction, (2) hereditary dynastic right, and (3) the Fons Honorum, the ability to create and recognize nobility. These fiefs were not mere titles; they were autonomous political units, often older than the kingdoms surrounding them, and their rulers exercised courts, levied military service, enforced law, and governed populations. This same structure is reflected in the surviving Channel Island fiefs (e.g., Sark, Anneville, Blondel, etc.), which uniquely preserve medieval seigneurial prerogatives into the modern era.

Within this European framework, the Honour of the Principality of Annaly–Teffia belongs to a rare class of feudal entities that combine dual sovereignty traditions—Gaelic princely authority and Anglo-Norman palatine jurisdiction. Annaly’s territorial legitimacy comes directly from the ancient Gaelic kingdom of Teffia, ruled for centuries by the O’Farrell princes, O’Quinn lords of Rathcline, and subordinated septs under the wider suzerainty of the O’Connor kings of Meath and Connacht. Its dynastic legitimacy, however, is strengthened by a unique Anglo-Norman inheritance: Hugh de Lacy, first Lord of Meath, received vast palatine powers from Henry II in 1172, and his sister’s marriage into the Gaelic princely houses created a bloodline fusion between the De Lacy palatinate and the native sovereign dynasties of Teffia. This marital alliance is not a trivial genealogical note—it provided the De Lacy–Nugent line (later Barons Delvin and Earls of Westmeath) with a dual claim: (1) territorial rights by Crown grant and palatine charter, and (2) dynastic legitimacy through Gaelic royal descent via the De Lacy marriage connection. Thus the Honour of Annaly stands apart from other fiefs because it carries both territorial jurisdictional ancestry and hereditary princely lineage, making it structurally comparable to continental mediatised houses—yet uniquely rooted in the fusion of Gaelic sovereignty and Norman palatine authority.